Just as I always do that afternoon I walked lazily from the classroom to the clubroom, luckily for me everyone besides Haruhi ans Akira had already arrived. Taking advantage of the lucky situation, I halfheartedly tried to relay everything that Akira had said to me to Koizumi and the others, of course I glazed over the bit where she wanted me to pick which side I wanted to be on because that was the only way I would be able to avoid being asked which side I'd chosen.

"I was afraid it would be something like that..." Koizumi said with a sigh, "There's no possibility for any sort of compromise."

"I feel kind of sorry for her though, it seems like Suzumiya is causing all sorts of problems for her and her friends," Asahina said flashing an adorable conflicted expression, "But my superiors have told me that we can't let Akira do as she wants... or else things might turn out bad."

Nagato was the last to respond, "The integrated data thought entity will not allow this, it believes that if a portion of Haruhi Suzumiya's power is sealed then it may lose it's potential chance for auto evolution. No matter what, I am to prevent that girl from fulfilling her purpose."

Well that defiantly leaves me in a tight situation. I still have to make a choice about what side I'm on. If I side with Akira then I have Nagato, not to mention Koizumi's entire well-resourced Organization, against me. However I get the feeling that It'd be bad to go against Akira too, I still haven't forgotten what she said her first day in the club, 'if any of you attempt to get in my way I can promise this attempt will be futile and it will likely be the last thing you ever do,' if that doesn't justify not wanting to go against a person I don't know what does. Is there anyway I can just stay out of this mess? Of course not, Akira has already forced me to be involved.

"Akira still hasn't told you everything, has she? She probably left out enough details to give her story a positive spin in her favor," Koizumi said.

Of course I had to agree with him, she'd kept saying things like, 'I'll tell you the important things for now,' and, 'that's enough about me,' it was a reasonable conclusion that she had something left to tell me or something she didn't want to tell me. Now that it's been pointed out I can't help but wonder what she could be hiding. Someone as mysterious as her was bound to have a few skeletons in their closet, right? Darn it, now I sound like Haruhi.

"Well she said that if I wanted to know more than what she told me that we could arrange another meeting, maybe I should do that?" I suggested, "I can figure out what she hasn't told me yet."

"But until then we need to make sure she doesn't have the chance to be alone with Haruhi, we never know when she might try to make a move," Koizumi said, I didn't bother to tell him that she wouldn't take any action until tomorrow after club activities because she was waiting for my decision, that would require me telling them I was making such an important decision.

Asahina thought for a moment before saying, "Wait, where are those two right now? They should have gotten here by now. Is it possible that Akira and Suzumiya are alone together right now?"

Koizumi began to open his mouth, perhaps to say that it was possible, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the sound of the clubroom door creaking open.

"I am not," Akira said entering the room, "I simply wished to give you lot some time to talk amongst yourselves about what I had told Kyon earlier. Although I did speak to Haruhi. I told her that I had seen a Zashiki Warashi near the bamboo thicket on the other side of the grounds, needless to say she raced off in that direction with a hopeful expression. She'll likely spend another hour searching in vain, so you have about that long to ask me whatever you please."

Awestruck everyone seemed to stare at the strange girl as she walked to an empty chair and sat down, though looking back on it there weren't so much staring as glaring. Even Nagato's near expressionless face seemed to glare at Akira.

As much as I had grown to love the silence of the SOS Brigade clubroom, as it usually meant that for the moment Haruhi was not about to accidentally destroy the world, but this silence was almost suffocating. The pressure of the tension in the room was so strong that I was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. Why wasn't anyone saying anything?

Unable to take the silence any longer I broke it with a pointless question, "and was there a Zashiki Warashi?"

Akira laughed, "Of course not, as much as my lot doesn't particularly care about Haruhi in normal circumstances it would be foolish of me to expose her to certain paranormal things and get even further on this lot's bad side. Though if you're interested in Zashiki Warashi I could help you find one. God knows you could use the blessing."

Was that last bit supposed to be a joke? I'm not laughing. Don't make fun of my ridiculous life. Even though I hadn't spoken out loud Akira smiles at me a little bit. Don't tell me it really was meant to be a joke.

"Why haven't you already began to do what you came to this place for?" Asahina asked. I was a bit startled that she had been the first one to ask a plausible question, normally she would be fidgeting in the background or clutching my arm if something like this happened.

"Because for certain reasons that will remain undisclosed I will be taking no action until tomorrow afternoon," Akira replied dully, "You can relax, I will not go back on my word."

I guess that last comment was meant for me. Not that it mattered so much, I was just glad she didn't mention my having to make a choice. Although I guess it would be just as inconvenient for her if they knew about that because they'd be trying to convince me to stay on their side, so she probably didn't risk it because it was to her gain if they didn't know.

"Just to be clear," Koizumi began, "You plan to seal off the portion of Suzumiya's powers that is affecting the world that you came from?"

"That is indeed my plan," Akira's eyes narrowed as she spoke in an accusing tone, "Do you intend to attempt to talk me out of doing so? Or perhaps you think there's a better way for me to achieve the same goal? I don't see any reason that some one like you should be upset as my plan will have little or no affect on your life, Itsuki Koizumi. In fact, if I were to have my way the workload of your Organization would likely be less."

Well I guess that makes sense, if Haruhi has less effect on different dimensions then closed spaces wouldn't occur as often, or maybe would at least be smaller. Akira seems to have a point, Koizumi doesn't seem to have any reason to be against her. That's probably why she'd said all of it, to see if there was any chance she wouldn't have to face the full force of the Organization, regardless of my choice.

It apparently made less sense to Koizumi, he was clearly angrier than I'd ever seen him in all the time I'd known him. He grabbed her shoulder and violently pushed her against the nearest wall.

"That power is something that Suzumiya was born with! You shouldn't be trying to limit it!" He said in a voice that was between a shout and a whisper, "Someone like you should be able to come up with a better way to solve this!"

She didn't even flinch or shout, but instead gave him an unwavering glare and replied in a clam, cold tone "I understand what you're saying. Normally your eyes are like mirrors that keep anyone from being able to see your true nature, but as you are now I can see right through you. You're nothing more than a coward and a hypocrite. You're afraid that if the amount of power Haruhi holds decreases then the Organization will have less need of subordinates watching her and that you'll be cast from her side. You say that I shouldn't limit her power but is that not exactly what your pathetic organization is doing by keeping her monitored constantly? Furthermore, how can you be sure that Haruhi was born with the power she currently holds, that's what you were told by that organization which holds more liars than only you, there are plenty of other explanations for the current scenario, however whatever the true case maybe I don't have enough time left to create a plan that will keep everyone happy."

Koizumi's grip on her shoulder loosened and he began to back away warily, at some point he even tripped over his own feet, he seemed to be so shaken by her words that he was twitching, "...I...I."

I sort of enjoyed watching Koizumi twitch like this. I mean he was always annoying and way to smiley, so seeing him like this was a bit of a nice change of pace. It was good to know that he wasn't as creepily smiley as I'd originally thought, but this wasn't alright at all.

Akira had gone too far. I can understand that what she's doing is all to protect some friends of hers or something like that, but after seeing her do well whatever it is she'd just done... I just couldn't stand for it.

I stepped forward so that I was in front of Koizumi.

"Akira," I said, my voice quivered a little bit because by this point I felt certain she was as dangerous as the others said she was, "I will never be on your side, I don't care about your stupid dimension, but the members of this club are my friends and I won't let you hurt them like this."

Quite frankly I'm not really sure what came over me. I knew I wouldn't be enough to stand up to her on my own, even if she is weakened. I guess I'd just finally snapped, I'd known it was the right choice from the very beginning, why did I even bother thinking about it.

She looked at me with the sort of tender smile a mother would give a child that was running away from home, "You'll regret this choice... Kyon."

At that point I didn't really have time to regret anything, not that I think I would have, because that was the exact moment that Haruhi came bursting through the door. Well she certainly does have perfect timing. She gave a curious look around the clubroom, I can't even imagine what the scene in front of her must have looked like; Koizumi sitting twichily on the floor behind me, who was now looking at Akira with a death glare that almost would rival Haruhi's own, Akira's forlorned return expression, Asahina's scared look near the back of the clubroom, Nagato no longer reading but watching intently, ready to help me if he need should arise. I'm sure it was a strange sight even by Haruhi standards.

"...What's going on?"

"Oh, while we were waiting for you we thought we'd partake in a bit of role play," Akira said laughing it all off as though nothing had just happened, "I must say these two most certainly get into their characters very well."

Haruhi looked disbelieving, but apparently didn't care enough to point out any obvious flaws in Akira's explanation, "That's perfect, I was thinking it was about time the SOS Brigade made a second movie. This time Yuki, the alien mage, and Mikuru, the combat waitress from the future, will join forces to defeat a common enemy, that's Akira, she'll be an evil girl from another dimension. Koizumi is of course still a powerful esper that has fallen for Mikuru. Oh, Kyon you can be in it too, we'll just get your idiot friends to do your old job, let's see... you'll be Akira's sidekick or something like that."

What the... Why am I an evil sidekick. I said as much out loud, but unfortunately for my status as the hero I was ignored.

"I'm the villain? I'd be honored," Akira said, flashing a sly smile, "and you're even giving me a sidekick, well it's nice to have someone on my side."

Why do I get the feeling that this won't end well for me? That's probably because these things never do.